If you're a science fiction fan, then you've probably read books or watched movies and sitcoms in which entire crews spend huge amounts of time traveling from one corner of the galaxy to huge, over-powered ships. Sometimes there even happens to be a mood of romance among passengers - after all, no one is iron, not even the space characters in our favorite stories!

However, and in real life, with current technologies (ie, no ships capable of recreating gravity), have you ever wondered how "things" work in space and how the organism adapts in a microgravity environment? Men, as you all know, have "apparatuses" that have evolved to function under the force of gravity. So how do penises behave in space?

They should work differently, no?

The truth is that there are no scientific studies on how weightlessness affects genitals - at least as far as we know - and agencies that send humans on space missions do not touch the subject. Incidentally, astronauts must make a pact of silence, as no story has ever been leaked about space novels! However, according to Neel Patel of the Inverse portal, we can draw some conclusions based on what we know about the male sexual organ.

Floating in the cosmos

The evolution of life on our planet occurred over billions of years under the influence of gravity, right? This means that the biological processes that occur in earthly organisms, from the functioning of whole cells, tissues, organs and systems - such as the digestive and circulatory - have been influenced and being transformed to happen in a severely environment.

The organism must adapt to the lack of gravity

Therefore, it is evident that the lack of this force will affect the way bodies function and cause changes in the organism exposed to this new environment. Astronauts become slightly taller in space, for example - on average there is a 3% increase in height - as the lack of gravity relieves the pressure in their spines and their bodies become longer.

However, the fact that astronauts “grow in size” during space missions does not mean that their penises get bigger too. Well, dear reader, there is this rumor going around, but it is just a myth that emerged from the above effect, related to the column!

As you know, men no longer rely on bones in their penises, so there is no way in which the lack of gravity causes any lengthening of the organ - whose mechanism of functioning depends on the blood flow and the tissues that compose it.

Difficulties

In fact, according to Neel, instead of stretching, the penises become ... smaller in space. See, here on Earth, gravity causes blood flow to focus more on the lower body. But in space, where she is practically absent, more blood ends up flowing into the chest and head.

More blood here, less blood there ...

The result is lower blood pressure below the waist and possibly a slight decrease in the lower body tissue - and what is hanging in that region? In addition, the reduction in pressure can also affect erections - as they depend on blood flow to happen and to be maintained. As such, quality and duration may be impaired.

According to Neel, another issue that can make things difficult is that testosterone levels tend to fall into space - possibly due to a combination of factors (besides severity!) Such as lack of physical activity, dietary changes, changes in patterns. sleep, space limitations, etc. But, you know, the drop in male hormone rates isn't especially positive for sex life.

On the other hand, astronauts can benefit from the way fluids are distributed throughout the body in the absence of gravity. It is quite common for the variations in pressure that the body undergoes in space to cause fluids to occupy different "compartments" of the body - and one of them may be the penis.

More effects?

According to Neel, there may be more effects of lack of gravity on the penis. However, it is difficult to say which ones they would be, considering that very few humans have spent more than just a few months in space. Recently two men - US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko - set the record for staying at the International Space Station, totaling 342 days each.

We'll still find out what rolls in space!

However, no information about the intimacy of the pair has been released so far. Still, as Neel pointed out, even if data related to the effects of lack of gravity had been made public, Kelly and Kornienko are only two individuals - and it may be that different organisms react differently in space.

In addition, there is still the possibility that more serious effects take longer to manifest. However, considering all the ongoing projects to take man farther and farther into the cosmos, it is a matter of time before we find out exactly how the behavior and physiology of the penis is affected by the lack of gravity.